


Still Queer

by SophiaCatherine



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Biphobia, Bisexuality, Canon Divergent, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Past Child Abuse, Romantic Fluff, pansexuality, queer mixed-gender relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-14
Updated: 2018-09-14
Packaged: 2019-07-11 23:52:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15983153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SophiaCatherine/pseuds/SophiaCatherine
Summary: Five times when Leonard and Sara dealt with attitudes to bisexuality/pansexuality that pissed them off, and one time when they didn’t have to.





	Still Queer

  1.   _Biphobia_



Sara sees Leonard striding back towards her at the bar, his face dark and threatening a storm.

They’re in Central City at a Pride Weekend party. A bit earlier, Leonard had drifted off with some old friends from the Central queer scene. Sara is at the bar, chatting to Amaya and Zari while enjoying some low-key flirting with a very attractive bartender.

“We’re leaving,” Leonard growls as he reaches the bar.

Amaya shoots Zari a meaningful look. “I saw Curtis Holt around here somewhere—come and say hi.” Zari glares at Amaya, but as soon as she looks back at Leonard’s face, she nods and the two of them disappear into the crowd.

Sara puts a hand on his arm. “What happened?”

He sighs and sinks onto the bar stool next to her. “Jack and Coke,” he says to the bartender. He’s quiet until the drink is set in front of him and he’s tipped back a mouthful. “That fucker Waverley. Never liked him.”

“What did he say?”

He glares at the counter. “That you were gonna get bored with me and run off to find yourself a hot girl. A few other equally disgusting stereotypes.”

Frowning, she moves her hand up to his shoulder. “It doesn’t matter, Leonard.”

“Matters to me,” he mutters into his glass.

Sara takes him in, all clenched fists and cold rage. Distraction time, then. She moves to stand up, a glint in her eye. “Dance with me.”

The ice clinks around in his glass, where his attention is focused. “Not really my thing, in public. You know that.”

“Come on. Just this once.” She strokes his back, aiming for a possessive look that she knows he’ll respond to. “I wanna show off my hot lover, from whom I am not running away, with anyone, of any gender.”

He snorts at ‘hot.’ Then he hums, eyes narrowing at her. “And what do I get out of this?”

Sara looks him up and down slowly. “I’m sure I can persuade you to have fun,” she says, sliding her hand further down his back. When his eyes darken, she knows she’s been just persuasive enough, and smirks in triumph.

Then the track changes to something suitably provocative, and all plotting is forgotten.

 

  1. _Assumptions_



It’s one of those days. Sara’s in the library with Nate, who is... talking. A lot.

She zones back into the conversation—monologue—when she realises he’s talking about her.

“I mean, you’re basically in a straight relationship now, aren’t you?” Nate says in a cheerfully foolish tone. “You’re even with a straight guy.”

At the viewscreen, where she’s been examining the details of an anachronism, she takes a second to process—all of that. Then she turns around to face him, hoping her smile is a complex recipe, maybe 90% _firm time ship captain_ with just a hint of added _League of Assassins graduate_. “Two things, Nate. One.” She points to herself. “Still bi.” She takes a step closer to him. “Secondly… _straight guy?”_

He splutters a bit. “I mean, I just…”

Sara arches an eyebrow. “Assumed?” At the same time, she hears a chuckle behind her, and turns to see a broadly-smirking Leonard in the library doorway.

“Sorry, man,” Nate mutters, his head in a book.

Leonard apparently takes pity on him, and doesn’t even snark, just shakes his head at him. “Don’t worry about it, Nathaniel. Sara, you ready? Giving Barry Allen a run for his money there, assassin.”

At what was probably an unintended pun, Sara winks, and he grins as though he meant it. She looks down at her watch. “Oh, crap. I’m late?” 

He snorts, striding over to turn her wrist gently towards him, laughing at her slow-running watch. “How are you captain of a _time_ ship and this disorganized?”

In reply she just shrugs, turning her wrist until she’s holding his hand.

Nate peers around his book. “Where you going?”

“Cafe de Fleur,” Leonard replies. “Gay bar, Paris, 1960s. The one Yves Saint Laurent used to patronize.”

“Very swanky,” she says with a grin. The she gives him a wry look. “We’re gonna be bored in an hour and end up somewhere we can have a good brawl, aren’t we?”

Shepherding her out of the library, he drawls, “Can’t _imagine_ what you mean.”

 

  1. _Jealousy_



“Are you aware that your girlfriend is at the bar flirting with a woman?”

Leonard slowly turns his head to look past Raymond, who is dressed in a matching tux to his own. His eyes seek out Sara at the bar. She's deep in coquettish conversation with a very beautiful person with waist-long dark hair. She’s selling the undercover mission well, or she’s honestly into the mark. Either way, he’s impressed. “Hmm. Well done her.” He takes another bite of pasta.

Ray furrows his brow at him. “You’re not jealous?”

“Jesus,” he sighs. “She’s not gonna sleep with every woman she encounters, Raymond. Or every man, for that matter.” In a mutter, he adds, “At least Mick isn’t here. I’d be having to listen to nonsense about threesomes.” He apologises internally to Mick, who would absolutely do that, but only to piss Leonard off.

Shrugging, Ray says, “I wasn’t suggesting she would. But still. You must have a pretty secure relationship.”

He sounds admiring, and Leonard finds himself a little taken aback. Narrowing his eyes at him, Leonard goes for _almost_ entirely sincere. “Yes, we do. I know which of us she’s taking home at the end of the night.” He glances up towards the bar again and takes a sip of his drink. “The brunette may be a stunner, but I’m prettier.” He smirks at Raymond. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed you noticing.”

Raymond chokes on his lime and soda.

 

  1. _Gender Roles_



“What kinds of assumptions?” Amaya asks.

Still seething after a frustrating encounter with an ARGUS agent, Sara’s curled up on a chair in the galley. “He heard we were together and decided that Leonard was in charge.”

Amaya’s eyebrows draw together. “Of the mission, or of your _relationship?”_

That’s unexpected enough to cut into Sara’s anger, and she laughs gratefully, uncurling a bit. “The mission, but I wouldn’t have put it past the guy to think I let my boyfriend run the show there, too. She sighs. “I like my life, and that includes the person I chose to be with—but, _man_ there are a lot of assumptions that come with being in a relationship with a guy again.” She stretches out as Amaya sets the pot of food on the table.

Amaya laughs quietly at her. “Having a ‘grass is greener’ moment?”

Shaking her head, Sara accepts the plate that Amaya passes over to her. “This looks great. What did you say it was called?”

“I wanted to make _potjiekos_ , but I don’t have a barbecue.” She squints at the crock pot a bit sadly. “I think I’ve ended up with a Zambesi-American stew. It’ll have to do.”

Sara takes a bite of the stew. _“Mmm._ Oh, you have nothing to worry about.” She smiles at her friend. “Thanks.”

“You looked like you needed cheering up.” Amaya’s looking at her thoughtfully over her own bowl of stew. “I’m still pretty new to thinking about gender roles the way the rest of you do. I can’t imagine you and Snart are ever going to settle down and play house—” Sara snorts, and Amaya grins before carrying on. “But is it really so different, being with a guy?”

Sara ponders. “Don’t get me wrong. Relationships with women come with their own tricky social assumptions. There’s plenty of those I don’t miss, but…” She shrugs. “It’s just a little easier to challenge gender roles when you’re with a woman. There’s not so many expectations there. People look at me and Leonard, people who don’t know us anyway—I guess it’s easy to assume he’s in charge. Whatever that means.” She smiles at Amaya. “One more of those fun perspectives on relationships that comes with being bi.”

“I see,” Amaya says thoughtfully.

Sara points at her plate. “This is the greatest thing I’ve ever eaten. Let’s get you a barbecue fabricated and land somewhere, so you can cook it outdoors.”

Amaya arches an eyebrow at her. “Is this your way of telling me you’re never going to learn to cook?”

“Oh god, no.” The thought of something that domestic is actually a little overwhelming, a familiar edge of panic rising in her chest, but she tries to keep her grimace lighthearted. “You’re right. I’m never settling down. I’ll stick to martial arts and fixing anachronisms.”

“Glad to hear it,” Amaya says with a smile.

The door slides open, and Leonard’s head appears. He swings back and forth, gripping the edges of the open door. “Hi. Bored. Train with me?”

“Sure, after dinner.” She laughs. “You really want a beating that bad?”

That gets a smirk from Leonard. “I like it when you kick my ass.”

Gesturing at him, Sara grins at Amaya. “See? Doesn’t care about gender roles.”

Leonard furrows his brow as he sits down next to her. “About _what?”_

“Exactly,” she says through a mouthful of stew, and Amaya laughs.

 

  1. _Secrets_



Sara’s working late on the bridge when Leonard comes to find her. She likes the late nights, just her and Gideon, when everyone else is in bed and she can hear herself think. It’s a little like the old days, working on lone assignments in the field. Assassin, vigilante—both surprisingly quiet, solitary jobs. She misses that, some days.

Though, as he slides in and puts his arms around her from behind, she thinks maybe being disturbed isn’t too bad either. She leans back into him and smiles. Then she remembers her day, and sighs. “Oh my god, my crew are the worst.”

“Thanks,” he drawls.

She reaches behind to poke him. “Let’s pretend you’re not as bad as the rest of them.” He snorts when she adds, “You’re just as bad as the rest of them.”

“What did they do now?”

“There was a coming out discussion in which someone outed me to Wally.” She laughs. “I can’t even remember which bozo it was.”

“Ouch,” he says with a note of real sympathy. “Coming out is tricky business, even for the captain.” He pulls away to look at her. “You good?”

Sara nods with a smile. “I’ve had worse coming outs.” Then she laughs as a thought occurs to her. “Did I ever tell you how I came out to my dad?”

Her crook leans in towards her against the central console, narrow-eyed and curious. “No, don’t think you ever did.”

Sara slips into a casual, sing-song tone. “Oh, you know, normal assassin stuff. Nyssa had kidnapped my mother, I kissed her in front of Oliver, then I clumsily explained the whole thing to Dad while we tried to find Mom.”

His eyes widen. “And how did the good police captain take all  _that?”_

“A whole lot better than you’d think, given the situation,” she muses. She gets the urge to reach out for him, and runs her hand lazily over his head. “Did you ever come out to family?”

A _hmm_ is his only answer at first, his look turning a little distant. “Lisa’s always known I’m pan—well, seemed that way. Probably ran into one of my boyfriends when she was growing up.” He shrugs. “Never seemed to bother her.”

“And your parents?” she asks, fatigue making her thoughtless, and immediately wants to kick herself.

He tenses under her touch. There’s a moment of silence before he says, dripping with sarcasm, “Dear old Dad _found out._ That was fun.” Sara sighs and drops her arm, moving to lean next to him so she can curl it around his waist. She’s not intending to enquire further, but after a quiet moment he gives her a little more. “I was 17. He caught me with a guy—followed me when I went out.”

There’s a strained pause. Sara, treading carefully, pushes down the urge to say something.

“I left home the next day. Never went back.”

“He threw you out?”

Leonard nods, ever so slightly. Sara doubts that’s all there is to the story, but she doesn’t ask. Suddenly, she feels a frustrating weight of years and experiences between them. There are still so many secrets he doesn’t tell her, and she’s got her own grim stories she keeps at a safe distance from him.

He kisses the top of her head. “Sorry to kill the cheerful mood,” he murmurs.

She shakes her head against his side. “It’s okay.”

He peers around at the console. “What you working on?”

“Hmm? Oh, Zari asked me to input some code for her upgrade.” She waves the instruction manual and grins. “She’s given me instructions so clear that, and I quote, ‘a monkey could do it.’ You can keep me company if you like.”

Turning back around, he drapes himself against the console again in that familiar way—she gives him an amused smile—and just watches her for a while.

As she inputs code, her mind drifts back over the first part of their conversation. “It’s weird, though. It’s not a dirty secret. Not a secret at all. Pretty much everyone knows I date girls and guys.” She smiles coyly at him. “Or that I did, before you.”

Leonard’s replying smile is only a little strained. “Secrets are strange when you’re pan. Or,” he nods at her, “bi. You don’t always have coming out... _forced_ on you so quite much.” He chuckles. “Unless you’ve got a team with the diplomacy skills of a bunch of sailors.”

She giggles. “Seems appropriate.”

But he’s gained a thoughtful look, leaning back against his hands. “World I’m from, dating guys wasn’t always safe. Didn’t do a lot of coming out, just a lot of wishing I could. And now here I am, frustrated that I never have to anymore. Different kind of secret.” He gives her a doubting half-smile. “Is that terrible?”

Sara stops and looks at him. “No, it’s not.” Then she leans over, touches her hand to his cheek, and kisses him.

When she pulls away, he’s smiling, but there’s a puzzled look behind it. “What was that for?”

“Oh, you know.” Her eyes drift back down to the console. “You have a very sexy brain.”

 _“Sure._ That’s why you’re sleeping with me.”

Sara hits him on the arm with the instruction manual. Laughing, he ducks away, then leans in for another quick kiss.

 

_+1. Just Sara and Leonard_

Sara’s never been more glad that she put the big bed in her quarters. She couldn’t have survived a relationship with Leonard in the standard cabin beds. He’s sprawled out again—arms and legs tangled everywhere as he lazes across the bed, watching her undress with a hint of desire. She turns and returns his smirk as she pulls her nightdress over her head.

“Long day,” she sighs, collapsing on the bed next to him.

He scoots over to make room for her, letting his arm casually fall across her shoulders. “A captain’s work is never done,” he says in the tone of one who knows.

She turns to him, curious, then remembers. “You miss it?”

“Mm?”

“Running a crew.”

“Oh.” He lets a low laugh escape. “Yeah, sometimes.” He stretches his arms above his head, clearly an excuse to wrap himself around her a little more. “All things considered, I’d rather be here with you.”

“Bet your crew didn’t ask so many dumb questions,” Sara gripes. She’s still mad about a few of the recent incidents of nonsense. Which, to be fair, were only half the fault of her shipmates.

“You’d be surprised,” Leonard muses, and smiles. “This particular motley crew might be a bunch of occasionally crass fools, but they mean well.”

“Yeah. They care.” She slides along the headboard a bit so she can get a better look at him. Sometimes, when he smiles at her—now that he gives her real smiles, in trusted, private moments—it’s with something like awe, as though he can’t believe he got the girl. His icy blue eyes melting, just a little.

“Let’s go out tomorrow,” she says. “On the scene. Star City.”

A raised eyebrow. “ _Again_? Been there, done that, twice in the past few months."

"Do-over. You ended up pissed off in Central, and we left after an hour in Paris."

"Paris is wasted on us," he agrees wryly. She gives him a pleading look, and he frowns. "You know I don’t actually _like_ people, right?”

“Ah, I bet you used to love the scene. All those pickpocketing targets.”

He shrugs. “Child’s play. Always preferred planning a heist in quiet. Then one big night of adrenaline.”

Sara runs her hand down his back. He shivers, and she can’t help gloating a little at the reaction. “Mmm. And where do you get that adrenaline rush now?”

“Oh, you know. Time travel... keeping Mick from burning the ship down... trying to get in line for the bathroom first…” She laughs. “You,” he adds, his smirk turning suggestive as he kisses her neck.

Her pleased hum cuts off as she looks at her watch. Leonard sighs dramatically. “Seriously?”

“I have an early meeting with Gary,” she protests, but weakly.

Leonard rolls his eyes and pulls away from her. “Great time to bring _him_ up.”

Grinning, she says, “Oh, I don’t know. I kind of got the idea you liked him.”

His eyes narrow at her. _“Don’t_ tell him that.”

Sara laughs triumphantly. “A little weedy to be your type, isn’t he?”

Humming, he pulls her closer again. “And how do you know what I like in a guy, _hmm?”_

“Oh, I think I can probably add it up by now.”

Eyes still narrowed, he asks cautiously, “You don’t mind?”

She laughs. “Why would I? I’m guessing you’ve noticed which women I look at, too.” While he’s looking thoughtful, she pokes him. “I mean it—come out with me tomorrow. There’s this gay bar I miss in Star that you’d love.”

The headboard shifts back as he pulls away to fold his arms behind his head, half-smiling at her. “Why so keen, Sara?”

She shrugs. "Maybe I feel like spending some time somewhere where we can be a queer couple in public.”

Eyebrows raised, he slides an arm around her from behind. “And what are the chances we’ll be seen that way in a gay bar, hmm? Any better than on the ship?”

“Oh, I’ve got some outfits that just _scream_ bi girl.” She grins. “And, hon, you set off the gaydar of every queer man in the room when you walk into a room and drape yourself all over it.”

Leonard just chuckles in affirmation and leans over to kiss her cheek. “Wouldn’t mind watching every woman’s eyes on you all night. And knowing you’re all mine and they can’t have you.”

“Well, _there’s_ a kink.” She laughs when he winks at her. “I wanna dance,” she adds, on a note of complaint.

He smiles. “Well. Can do that here.” He glances at the ceiling. “Gideon, could you play the first song on the playlist I made yesterday?”

“Certainly, Mr Snart,” Gideon replies, and Sara rolls her eyes at the reminder that they’re constantly being watched and listened to. Years later, she’s still getting used to that.

Then all thoughts of annoyance at AIs and crew drift away to Ella Fitzgerald’s sultry voice.

Leonard slides up from the bed, oh so gracefully, and reaches out his hand to her. “Dance with me, Ms Lance?”

She rolls her eyes, but she takes his hand.

And that’s the end of all her infuriation with a tactless crew and an ignorant world. Here, where her arms are around him and his breath is warm on her cheek, there no assumptions about who they are. Oh, they still jokingly call each other _her crook_ and _his assassin_ —even if, these days, they both know that they’re more than their histories. But identities are complex things, and who they’ve loved is part of that. They know who they are.

Here, they’re just Sara and Leonard.

The music cuts into her schmaltzy reverie, which she thinks is probably for the best.

“You’re thinking too hard,” he whispers into her ear, and waltzes her away across the limited floor space of her quarters with grace, imagination and charm.

Oh yeah, they’re going out tomorrow.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to jessicamiriamdrew for kindly beta reading this, and to Thette for talking through ideas with me.
> 
> On tumblr [here](https://sophiainspace.tumblr.com/).


End file.
